BEIJING -- A strong cold air has brought a new round of windy and dusty weather to Beijing, the city's meteorological service said Thursday.

The Chinese capital has experienced sand-dust weather since Wednesday evening, with the visibility dropping to 2-6 kilometers at some points, said Du Jia, chief forecaster at the Beijing Meteorological Service.

The service has also issued a blue alert for strong winds, which will continue into Friday. Temperatures are expected to plunge by 10-12 degrees Celsius on Thursday and Friday, according to Du.

Beijing has seen a particularly sandy spring this year. Du attributed this to a rapid rise in temperature in March, the less-than-usual precipitation in the source areas of sandstorms, and frequent cold snaps that contributed to the windy weather.

China's national observatory said that from Wednesday evening to Thursday evening, floating sand and dust are expected to hit parts of north and northwest China.

Sandstorms will sweep parts of Xinjiang, Gansu and Inner Mongolia, according to the National Meteorological Center.